Preserving Archival Records

FAIN: PG-50287-08

Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Champaign, IL 61801-3620)
Ellen Swain (Project Director: May 2007 to December 2009)

The purchase of preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment for the Stewart S. Howe Collection, one of the largest collections of national fraternity and sorority materials in the United States. It contains over 350 cubic feet of records, dating from 1810 to the present, including books, journals, newsletters, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and student files reflecting campus life at more than 300 American colleges and universities.

The University Archives Research Center, a satellite research location of the University of Illinois Archives, requests a Preservation Assistance Grant of $5000 to purchase preservation supplies and environmental monitoring equipment. The Archives Research Center is home to the Student Life and Culture Archival Program. This project will focus on the Stewart S. Howe Collection, the centerpiece of the Program's collections concerning fraternity history and culture. With over forty years of active use, the archival materials are exhibiting severe acidification and wear and tear. Although stored in reasonable environmental conditions, the process of acid hydrolysis is taking its toll. The grant will be used to purchase pH buffered file folders and storage boxes to rehouse the Howe collection and help neutralize acid content until the University can deacidify the collection.